Roasted Cauliflower

Just like most Americans, we are constantly struggling to try and eat better. Yeah, you probably wouldn’t guess it from looking at the posts here with all the BBQ and pizzas and wings and bacon. And bacon. And more bacon. But I promise you, into between all those posts, we do eat some healthy meals…sometimes. Probably not as often as we should, but we try.

The other day, I was at the grocery store, picking up a few things and I was walking through the produce section and I spotted some cauliflower. I thought to myself, “Self, you should pick up some cauliflower. It’s ‘sposed to be loaded with all kinds of things and stuff that are good for you.” A nutritionist I am not. I don’t know what those things or stuffare, but I know I have heard it, so it must be true…right?

Doesn’t that look good? Or at least healthy?

I’m probably in the same camp as most of you. We don’t know what to do with cauliflower. We know we should eat it, but maybe growing up we had bad experiences with it. I can remember growing up not really caring for it, not that I hated it, but it was just sorta bland and flavorless. Sure…you could drown it in a sea of cheese and it would be good, but it wouldn’t necessarily be healthy for you anymore.

I think I have maybe one time in my life made cauliflower. I don’t remember what I did with it. I know I cooked it on the Egg, so it wasn’t that far back, but I probably offset the healthy benefits by setting it afloat in cream or butter or the aforementioned cheese. But not this time! Oh No! I was gonna try and keep it healthy. Or attempt to. And still produce something that was better than just edible.

Ingredients

1 head of cauliflower, separated into florets

2 tbsp of minced garlic

2 tbsps of olive oil

Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

I’ll never look at cauliflower the same way again.

Directions

Preheat oven to 450F (yes, I know, I used an oven for once!)

Spray a casserole dish with Pam.

Add the cauliflower and garlic to the casserole dish and toss with olive oil, season with salt and pepper.

Bake for 12 minutes, stir and continue baking for an additional 12 minutes.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and broil for 3-5 minutes or until golden brown. (I hate it when recipes don’t specify on an ingredient. A pet peeve of mine. I wasn’t sure if the recipe was calling for the cheese from the green can or freshly grated Parmesan cheese, so I did a mixture of both. You can experiment to your liking).

When done, grate some more fresh Parmesan cheese on top if desired.

Plated with grilled chicken breast and a salad

Now, to be honest, I was skeptical. Even though I had high hopes for the cauliflower, I wasn’t expecting much. But boy was I wrong! Could cauliflower really taste like this? Could it actually be that good? Apparently so. Who knew? Not this guy. I actually went back for seconds on the cauliflower. And I packed some in my lunch today as well. I think it was a combination of roasting it (vs steaming it) and the roasted garlic. And yeah, it had cheese in it, but not a ton and it wasn’t swimming in it. Just a bit sprinkled on top. Was it totally healthy? I don’t know, but I got some of my daily required thingsand stuffso I’m happy. I will definitely be making this one again. Maybe next time I’ll try and tackle grilling it, whaddaya think?

Welcome to the roasted cauliflower fan club. We love roasted cauliflower. Roasting adds a nice depth of flavor, additional texture and character to the cauliflower. There are loads of roasted cauliflower recipes on the net. We even have one on our blog that is extremely popular with over 100,000 hits. We also have a recipe for grilled cauliflower steaks that’s pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. 🙂 Perhaps it will give you some ideas or inspiration. Oiled, seasoned and grilled over indirect heat using hickory???? Never tried that before and it sounds intriguing. Who knows? 😉

I never liked cauliflower either, until I had it roasted. I’m fond of tossing it with curry powder as one alternative. Also roasting it as you have posted – with broccoli mixed in and a few shakes of red pepper flakes – is pretty awesome! I think I’ll be making this tonight with our steaks!

Roasted cauliflower is definitely one of our favorite recipes and we make it very often. I do boil or steam it for a couple of minutes first, then coat it in a tablespoon of olive oil, a couple of tablespoons of freshly grated cheese and maybe some chives. Roast for 30 minutes in a 400 degree oven and it comes out golden brown and amazingly delicious! And good for you for bringing home the cauliflower because, yes, it is very good for you. 🙂